What's behind the disappearance of squirrels from San Jose neighborhood?

DEAR JOAN >> This is the first time I can remember that our neighborhood hasn't been overrun with squirrels.

Normally, the nuisance-y critters are busy right now running around the trees and fences and stripping the fruit trees. But I noticed today that a bumper crop of untouched nectarines is ripening on the branches of our neighbor's tree, and their fig tree is loaded with figs.

I found the mummified remains of a dead squirrel in the backyard recently, and I can't recall the last time I saw a live squirrel.

Is this happening everywhere in the area, maybe due to the cold spring we had? I'm not sorry to share some of the nectarines for once, but the disappearance of the squirrels feels odd.

— Mattie, San Jose

DEAR MATTIE >> I can't be certain about what happened to your neighborhood's squirrels, but I can offer some likely possibilities.

The first, and worst, is that someone in the neighborhood is trapping or poisoning the squirrels, which could be illegal. The non-native Eastern fox squirrel is considered an invasive species, and it is legal to trap and kill them, but the other squirrels, including the native gray squirrel, are considered game animals and can be hunted only with a license during hunting season.

Live trapping is permitted, but wild animals must be released where they are found, a provision of the law that perplexes many who want to capture the offending animal and release it far from them. The law isn't intended as a control method but as a temporary measure. If you have a wild animal in your attic, the law allows you to trap it, repair the entrance hole to prevent the animal from returning, and then do an Elsa and let it go.

Releasing trapped animals in other areas can spread disease, cause territorial conflicts and foist your problems onto others.

The fact that you found a mummified squirrel in your yard points to the use of poison — which is illegal — but other factors could be in play.

You might have a family of raptors in the neighborhood, and the adults are picking off the squirrels to feed their offspring. That's excellent for the raptors, but not so good for the squirrels, yet it is nature in its most basic form.

Another possibility is that all the winter rain produced a bumper crop of food, and the squirrels have abandoned your neighborhood for better feasting areas. Of all the maybes, this is probably the least likely, but it's better than imagining a serial squirrel killer in your midst.

Whatever the reason, with nectarine and fig trees bursting with fruit, you can be fairly certain the squirrels will be back.

Rodent deterrent recipe

In case anyone ever wondered why they rarely saw my byline in the Eat Drink Play section of the newspaper, this will likely answer that. I left out something important when I shared a rat and squirrel deterrent recipe in a recent column.

The recipe calls for mixing peppermint oil with water and dish soap, then spraying it on fruit trees to protect them from hungry rodents. I neglected to say how much peppermint oil — 4 teaspoons to 2 cups of water and 15-20 drops of dishwashing liquid.